Insurgent attacks on US troops supporting ongoing operations for the Global War On Terrorism (GWOT) in Iraq and Afghanistan have exposed vulnerabilities of the ground vehicles used by our troops. Consequently, the HMMWV (commonly known as a HumVee) and other light tactical military vehicles are now at least sometimes (in at least some configurations) armored, to counter the insurgent threats and provide an increased level of soldier protection.
A new issue results in that the additional weight of the armor and associated upward shift in center of gravity of the vehicle have caused these vehicles to become increasingly unstable and difficult for the troops to control. Numerous rollover accidents have and continue to occur, given the tendency of these vehicles to go out of control and tip during evasive maneuvering, off-road travel and IED/RPG (improvised explosive device/rocket propelled grenade). When such an armored vehicle rolls over, the crew sometimes cannot egress via the doors due to the weight of the armor on the doors, or due to jamming of doors from the vehicle frame twisting. The gunner's station is not an option for exit either if the vehicle is upside-down. The result is that the crew is often killed due to vehicle fires, follow-up insurgent attacks, trauma injuries and drowning.
One thing that could help for armored vehicles is a simple-to-operate and cost-effective emergency egress assembly embedded in a door of such a vehicle, an emergency egress assembly that does not compromise the required levels of protection from small arms fire and blast or other explosive effects.